authored by finish line
summary If there is one thing a girl like Sakura wants a boy she likes to do, it's to not make her think, "I want to be like that girl you just talked to."
a girl's heart
"Oh, Sasuke-kun," cooed the very pretty girl as she leaned against the counter. She gave the dark-haired boy a wide smile. "I really missed you! I hope to get to talk to you again soon. It's been years, after all."
Uchiha Sasuke caught Uzumaki Karin's eyes and grunted. He could actually care less. The girl was practically an eyesore ever since he got to know her in high school, but she got to be a little more tolerable upon senior year. Now, four years after they had graduated and four years into his college, Sasuke got to see her again.
Again, not that he really cared. He had an important girl he was working with in the small university café right then. Speaking of "important girl" . . . . Sasuke shot the 5-foot-tall girl that worked silently beside him, conspicuously ignoring him and the redheaded girl he was talking to.
"Aa," he replied, if just to be able to contribute to the one-sided conversation.
Karin checked her wristwatch and gasped. "Ooooh! Some periwinkle-haired sharkface is going to throw a tantrum if he finds out I meet you again!"
She laughed, and Sasuke was surprised that his curiosity was actually piqued. So . . . the loudmouth cousin of his loudmouth best friend was finally dating her biggest nemesis back then. That was interesting.
Soon enough, she bade him good-bye, leaving him a promise of more meetings to come.
The bell tinkled as the door to the café opened and closed, and it took a few more minutes of silence before the short girl that silently worked beside him finally spoke.
"So . . . ," she began, green eyes turning to search for his dark ones, "she's really pretty."
Sasuke turned to her amusedly and raised his eyebrows. He did not know how to respond, but he knew from experience that the girl was showing the first signs of jealousy.
Big word, but Sasuke knew so much better than anybody else.
"Hn," he grunted instead, resuming his work of wiping the glasses clean.
Haruno Sakura subsequently stopped her job and leaned her back against the counter, her arms folded across her chest. She stared at nowhere in particular.
"And she looks . . . she looks really bright," she continued, and Sasuke's alarm started blaring into his head. Jealousy indeed. "It seems she's also fun to be with, if she managed to hold you into one conversation. I . . . I want to be like her."
Sakura, to Sasuke's amusement, was already pouting. He smirked.
"Yeah," he murmured, setting down the drinking glass he had been working on for the past five minutes. "She's fun to be with. I knew from experience."
Sakura's atmosphere noticeably turned heavy, but she did not speak. Instead, she continued to stare off into space.
". . . but you're more fun to be with," Sasuke concluded. He almost smiled when Sakura's head snapped into his direction. She was blushing.
The pink-haired girl's mouth opened and closed, then opened again, but no words really came out.
"E-Eh?"
"You're more fun to be with," said Sasuke as he wrapped his arms around the small girl. "I know because I manage to stay with you for hours long even when all you do is talk and talk nonstop."
"Mou . . . is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Sasuke felt Sakura's arms hug him back. The girl leaned her head against his chest, and Sasuke could not ask for any better.
"I don't know, maybe," he answered. They stayed that way for a couple more minutes, and the small café remained silent.
There were no other occupants of the shop, given that their closing time was nearing, and they do not expect for more to come.
Sasuke continued, "Karin looks really bright—that, I agree with you. Her red hair tends to flare too much that I almost cannot bear to look at her, and I dislike standing with her because we look like we come out from some horror-thriller movie where she's the bloodied victim and I, the serial killer."
Sakura laughed and snuggled closer to him.
"But you're brighter."
The girl in Sasuke's arms gasped and pulled away, playfully glaring at the tall young man. It was as if he just told her that he could not bear to look at her because she was practically glowing.
"And I mean the good way," quipped the man, pulling the girl back against him. He did not particularly like it when she pulled away whenever he initiated a hug. "I like the way you look bright. You pacify my monotonous color and make us look like we really are meant to be."
Sasuke felt Sakura smile against his chest.
"I should know"—continued Sasuke as he kissed the crown of Sakura's head—"because so many people tell me that we look good together."
Sasuke knew that his words had finally melted away the jealousy that sprouted out of nowhere, and they detached from each other, Sakura being a whole lot happier than she had been. Sasuke sighed.
Girls.
They were preparing to close down the café—after a phone call from their manager, Kakashi—when Sasuke spoke again.
"She's pretty."
Sakura paused, and Sasuke could almost laugh—if he were a person who actually laughed so often—when the atmosphere around Sakura almost visibly darkened.
"Oh," was the only thing Sakura managed to mumble. She did not turn to him, and instead focused on locking the front door securely. "Is there supposed to be another but?"
"Aa," replied Sasuke, approaching her. Her back remained facing him, and so he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "She may be pretty, but you are beautiful . . . inside and out."
Uchiha Sasuke's girlfriend of three years finally spun around on her heels and turned to look up at him, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. She was happy. Sasuke just knew how to make her happy.
". . . I know, because I can see it. And I don't want you to ever think that you want to be like her or some other girls out there because for me, you are the best."
"Really?"
Sasuke smiled a small one and pulled the obviously PMS-ing girl into another hug. "Aa. I know, because I love you."
NOTES: I suddenly thought about this while I was in the bathroom. (o_O) The random place where I always have a sudden "EUREKA!" moment.